6 Tips Teachers Should be Able to Do on Google Link to article
Chromebook users click here to see a list of keyboard shortcuts for Chromebook
Google Searches You may use Google to conduct searches for classroom content or ask students to search Google for articles relative to a project. Have you used the Reading Level filter to adjust the results even further? It is quick, already built into Google search, and will make a difference when working with diverse learners who aren’t always the first to admit they don’t understand the content they’re finding. Here is a link to a document that has the steps and screen shots that will help you through the process.
Flippity.net provides a handful of great Google Sheets templates - Random Name Picker, Flashcard, and Jeopardy. The latest Flippity template is their Progress Indicator template. With that template you can create a progress chart that will update whenever you update the data in the chart. Other uses include monitoring student progress in reading comprehension or fluency, managing students’ earned points in a gamified setting, and keeping track of and updating bonus points students earn. In the video embedded below is an overview of how to use Flippity's Progress Indicator template.
I've been reviewing teachers' analyses of our students' surveys and reflecting upon responses to the survey question, "I learn new things in my classroom." Having students identify on the front end of a unit what it is they know and what they want to know may be a way in which new learning can be evident to students. Using Google Forms as a digital means of collecting what students already know and what they want to learn (KWL) is a more 21st century methodology. Here's some information on how this might work:
KWL using Google form.JPG
The questions included in a fom are 1) How do maps and globes help us? 2) Using a map, I can find my neighborhood. 3) Tell me 10 things you already know about maps. 4) What is something you'd really like to know about maps?
Having a record of new learning students have identified can be useful in having them reflect back on whether or not they've learned what they identified prior to beginning the unit.
Here is a link to a form that provides some other valuable uses for Google forms.
Ask a Tech Teacher is a website that has a page that provides websites for a variety of grade levels. At the top of the page, you'll see **//Great Websites//** and links to K-5th grade organized by topic.
My Teaching Degree is a wonderful collection of apps, tools, and ideas for teacher looking to bring technology into the classroom. The site has over 150 online resources organized by subject and grade-level.
Blogging In some grade levels, we've identified literature as a strand that needs strengthening. Here is a link to a guide to Blogging in 60 seconds.... as that is one way for students to respond to their reading in an interactive way
Linoit is a digital online tool that can serve educators and students in multiple ways. Imagine an electronic classroom display board. One that could leave the classroom and be visible on any computer screen anywhere. Create it in minutes using multi-color post it notes, pictures, drawings, web links, and even videos. Better yet… kids can contribute by being given a URL… no log in needed! Best of all it is fast, easy to use, and dependable. Linoit can be valuable as you plan and organize for your classroom and school needs 1. Access from anywhere (even on the road). Discover more including the ability to post a sticky note from a phone. Watch the video! 2. Organize stickies using any visual method. Take a look at organization by color, date, and tags. 3. Free layout of stickies, pictures, and movies. Explore different ways to layout, share, and allow for input. 4. Set due dates on your stickies. Read how these can be broadcast to your phone and calendars. 5. Share files in your posted stickies. View the way this collaboration can occur. 6. Use a bulletin board as a meeting place to share. Find out how entire groups can collaborate. 7. Use from an iPhone or iPad. Learn more about this special app. 8. Easily create your own account. Visit and get started
ChatterPix ChatterPix Kids is a free iPad app that you and your students can use to turn pictures into talking pictures. To create a talking picture just snap a picture with your iPad or import a picture from your iPad’s camera roll. After taking the picture just draw in a face and tap the record button to make your picture talk. Your recording can be up to thirty seconds in length. Before publishing your talking picture you can add fun stickers, text, and frames to your picture. Finished Chatter Pix projects are saved to your camera roll and from there you can export it to a number of services including YouTube.ChatterPix Kids doesn’t require students to create an account in order to use the service. Using the app could be a great way to get students to bring simple stories to lifeWays to Use ChatterPix:
Easy to use: choose a photo, draw a line for the mouth and record the message.
You don’t need to create an account to use it
It’s free
You’re limited to 30 seconds of audio, thus focusing students on the essential elements of storytelling.
There are so many ways you could use this in an educational setting:
have students animate a favorite photo of themselves with messages for a virtual exhibition — great for students with social anxiety issues around presenting;
record the morning school announcements;
create a map of a country and give each state it’s own voice;
have students record bios of famous historical figures
It is an Itunes app so can be used on IPads ChatterPix
Apps for Dyslexia Technology now can do a lot towards helping dyslexic students learn better. I am sharing with you this collection of iPad apps curated specifically for teachers and parents to use with their dyslexic kids. These apps are divided into different areas including: letter formation and identification, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, sentence structure, early reading, text to speech, handwriting recognition, story creation and many more. All of these apps are hyperlinked , click here to get to the page with active links for the apps. They may not be free apps...just warning you! :)
Educreations Educreations is an exciting app that transforms your iPad into a recordable whiteboard. It records your voice, handwriting and also allows you to insert pictures to produce your own personal video lessons that you and your students can share online. Your lessons are stored online and can be accessed by students on any computer or iPad.
What is Evernote ? Evernote is a web tool that allows users to bookmark, record voicemails, take text and voice notes, upload pictures, docs, PDFs and files, and capture images and information on the web as well as as a software download on your computer or as a plugin for your browser and also as an application for your mobile device.
Some Ways Teachers can Use Evernote Below are some of the ways Teachers can use Evernote in education :
The first and foremost usage of this tool for educators is to take notes in class or when attending a lecture , a conference, a symposium, wherever they feel the need to capture and save ideas for later review.
Teachers can get their notes organized into different notebooks
They can use it to create to-do lists and work logs via recording tasks completed in Evernote, along with the beginning and end times.
Teachers who are running a classroom blog can use it to write post drafts to be published on their blog when they get access to internet connection
Teachers can organize their classes in Evernote using tags
Store all the teaching materials to use during the whole year , one example is the grading templates such as grade sheets or student assessment forms.
Use Evernote to make up for your absence by sharing a notebook with the substitute teacher ( like lesson plans, worksheets, answer keys and examples of completed work ).
You can create a public notebook containing key notes you want to share with your students. Share this URL with the class and parents and let them view anything you add to your notes.
Keep your extracurriculars in one place and in order.
Save bookmarks and anootate webpages using Evernote. Teachers can add screenshots to help kick start their memory when looking for useful website.
Glogster
Glogster is a way to create posters of important information using multimedia - photos, videos, text, etc. Here's one a teacher created for her class around Fix Up Stratgies students can use when monitoring reading comprehension. Fix Up Strategies Glogster
Levelbook
Teachers now have a tool, Levelbook,
that combines their basic running record format with a calculator, stop watch
features, and the ability to record the student reading and play it back at a
later time. it allows a teacher to go back throughout the year and listen to
students' reading progress with the students themselves. These recordings can
be shared with other teachers who are working with the students or with parents
at conference time.
Padletis a great tool for formative assessment that also doubles as a collaborative way for students (or teachers) to connect with each other, too! Students collaborate on a shared wall space and a teacher gets all of the evidence you need to see if students "get it" or not. Padlet.com is a free web 2.0 tool for teachers. With an account, a teacher can create unlimited shared wall spaces that are great for collaboration between students or colleagues. Create a wall and share it with students; they don't need to have an account to collaborate on the wall.
For a practical classroom example, students were asked to add a post-it to your wall with a word that has a long "A" sound in it. Whether students are 1:1, BYOD, or you have a "station" with the wall up on a classroom computer and students rotate through and add a post-it sometime during the day, at the end of the day there is a wall of notes, one per student, and now you can arrange the notes in a meaningful way to analyze who gets it and who doesn't.
Students can cite evidence from text in a close reading activity using a Padlet wall. After accessing various articles on what free speech is, students were asked to support their opinion on the Padlet wall, citing evidence from the text that they read. This kind of activity spans all grade levels; citing evidence and supporting your opinion is a key skill at any age.
What about a KWL chart? By adding headings ahead of time to define the K-W-L spaces on the wall, students can add post-its and place them under the proper category to share what they Know, what they Want to know, or what they Learned.
PaperPort Notes PaperPort Notes is a free IPAD app that enables a teacher to
provide students with a text passage or a photo that students can then annotate
using sticky notes
Here is a tutorial and several screen shots included in a Word Doc that is linked here.
Seesaw is a free iPad app through which students can create a portfolio to document the things they have learned. Students can add artifacts to their portfolios by taking pictures of their work (i.e., a worksheet or other physical item), by writing about what they've learned, or by shooting a short video to record something they have learned. Students can add voice comments to their pictures to clarify what their pictures document.
To get started with Seesaw create a free classroom account. Students join the classroom by scanning a QR code (you will have to print it or project it) that grants them access to your Seesaw classroom. As the teacher you can see and sort all of your students' Seesaw submissions. Portfolios made through Seesaw could provide excellent information to share with parents at conferences. It's also a good app to use in an art class in which students have created things that aren't easy to file and keep track of for the entire school year. Students could take a picture of their artwork then talk about it in the Seesaw app.
Tellagami is an app that allows you to use your phone or IPAD to type or record a message that then is animated. You are able to choose a male or female character and customize your character with many options - skin tone, mood, placement, and lots of other options. I'm sure you can imagine many applications for this in the classroom. Imagine embedding it in your class website for students who have missed some important directions that are not easily understood by reading them!
Google Information/Resources
Google Apps in the ClassroomHere you'll find a Diigo list of links to websites that support using Google in the classroom.
6 Google Doc Features to Support Collaborative Writing in the Classroom
6 Tips Teachers Should be Able to Do on Google
Link to article
Chromebook users click here to see a list of keyboard shortcuts for Chromebook
Google Searches
You may use Google to conduct searches for classroom content or ask students to search Google for articles relative to a project. Have you used the Reading Level filter to adjust the results even further?
It is quick, already built into Google search, and will make a difference when working with diverse learners who aren’t always the first to admit they don’t understand the content they’re finding. Here is a link to a document that has the steps and screen shots that will help you through the process.
Flippity.net provides a handful of great Google Sheets templates - Random Name Picker, Flashcard, and Jeopardy. The latest Flippity template is their Progress Indicator template. With that template you can create a progress chart that will update whenever you update the data in the chart. Other uses include monitoring student progress in reading comprehension or fluency, managing students’ earned points in a gamified setting, and keeping track of and updating bonus points students earn. In the video embedded below is an overview of how to use Flippity's Progress Indicator template.
An article that explains how to google search by reading level:
How to Google Search by reading level
I've been reviewing teachers' analyses of our students' surveys and reflecting upon responses to the survey question, "I learn new things in my classroom." Having students identify on the front end of a unit what it is they know and what they want to know may be a way in which new learning can be evident to students. Using Google Forms as a digital means of collecting what students already know and what they want to learn (KWL) is a more 21st century methodology. Here's some information on how this might work:
The questions included in a fom are 1) How do maps and globes help us? 2) Using a map, I can find my neighborhood. 3) Tell me 10 things you already know about maps. 4) What is something you'd really like to know about maps?
Having a record of new learning students have identified can be useful in having them reflect back on whether or not they've learned what they identified prior to beginning the unit.
Here is a link to a form that provides some other valuable uses for Google forms.
General Technology Information
This site is a professional sharing site that provides teachers with information on webinars, and resources for technology, common core, etc.
http://simplek12.com/scripts/student/home.asp#cat2
Ask a Tech Teacher is a website that has a page that provides websites for a variety of grade levels. At the top of the page, you'll see **//Great Websites//** and links to K-5th grade organized by topic.
My Teaching Degree is a wonderful collection of apps, tools, and ideas for teacher looking to bring technology into the classroom. The site has over 150 online resources organized by subject and grade-level.
Top 10 Educational Tweets of the Year
21st Century Tools to Use with Students
Best of the Web 2015Blogging
In some grade levels, we've identified literature as a strand that needs strengthening. Here is a link to a guide to Blogging in 60 seconds.... as that is one way for students to respond to their reading in an interactive way
Linoit is a digital online tool that can serve educators and students in multiple ways. Imagine an electronic classroom display board. One that could leave the classroom and be visible on any computer screen anywhere. Create it in minutes using multi-color post it notes, pictures, drawings, web links, and even videos. Better yet… kids can contribute by being given a URL… no log in needed! Best of all it is fast, easy to use, and dependable. Linoit can be valuable as you plan and organize for your classroom and school needs
1. Access from anywhere (even on the road). Discover more including the ability to post a sticky note from a phone. Watch the video!
2. Organize stickies using any visual method. Take a look at organization by color, date, and tags.
3. Free layout of stickies, pictures, and movies. Explore different ways to layout, share, and allow for input.
4. Set due dates on your stickies. Read how these can be broadcast to your phone and calendars.
5. Share files in your posted stickies. View the way this collaboration can occur.
6. Use a bulletin board as a meeting place to share. Find out how entire groups can collaborate.
7. Use from an iPhone or iPad. Learn more about this special app.
8. Easily create your own account. Visit and get started
ChatterPix
ChatterPix Kids is a free iPad app that you and your students can use to turn pictures into talking pictures. To create a talking picture just snap a picture with your iPad or import a picture from your iPad’s camera roll. After taking the picture just draw in a face and tap the record button to make your picture talk. Your recording can be up to thirty seconds in length. Before publishing your talking picture you can add fun stickers, text, and frames to your picture. Finished Chatter Pix projects are saved to your camera roll and from there you can export it to a number of services including YouTube.ChatterPix Kids doesn’t require students to create an account in order to use the service. Using the app could be a great way to get students to bring simple stories to lifeWays to Use ChatterPix:
- Easy to use: choose a photo, draw a line for the mouth and record the message.
- You don’t need to create an account to use it
- It’s free
- You’re limited to 30 seconds of audio, thus focusing students on the essential elements of storytelling.
There are so many ways you could use this in an educational setting:- have students animate a favorite photo of themselves with messages for a virtual exhibition — great for students with social anxiety issues around presenting;
- record the morning school announcements;
- create a map of a country and give each state it’s own voice;
- have students record bios of famous historical figures
It is an Itunes app so can be used on IPadsChatterPix
Apps for Dyslexia
Technology now can do a lot towards helping dyslexic students learn better. I am sharing with you this collection of iPad apps curated specifically for teachers and parents to use with their dyslexic kids. These apps are divided into different areas including: letter formation and identification, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, sentence structure, early reading, text to speech, handwriting recognition, story creation and many more. All of these apps are hyperlinked , click here to get to the page with active links for the apps. They may not be free apps...just warning you! :)
Educreations
Educreations is an exciting app that transforms your iPad into a recordable whiteboard. It
records your voice, handwriting and also allows you to insert pictures to
produce your own personal video lessons that you and your students can share
online. Your lessons are stored online and can be accessed by students on any
computer or iPad.
What is Evernote ? Evernote is a web tool that allows users to bookmark, record voicemails, take text and voice notes, upload pictures, docs, PDFs and files, and capture images and information on the web as well as as a software download on your computer or as a plugin for your browser and also as an application for your mobile device.
Some Ways Teachers can Use Evernote Below are some of the ways Teachers can use Evernote in education :
- The first and foremost usage of this tool for educators is to take notes in class or when attending a lecture , a conference, a symposium, wherever they feel the need to capture and save ideas for later review.
- Teachers can get their notes organized into different notebooks
- They can use it to create to-do lists and work logs via recording tasks completed in Evernote, along with the beginning and end times.
- Teachers who are running a classroom blog can use it to write post drafts to be published on their blog when they get access to internet connection
- Teachers can organize their classes in Evernote using tags
- Store all the teaching materials to use during the whole year , one example is the grading templates such as grade sheets or student assessment forms.
- Use Evernote to make up for your absence by sharing a notebook with the substitute teacher ( like lesson plans, worksheets, answer keys and examples of completed work ).
- You can create a public notebook containing key notes you want to share with your students. Share this URL with the class and parents and let them view anything you add to your notes.
- Keep your extracurriculars in one place and in order.
- Save bookmarks and anootate webpages using Evernote. Teachers can add screenshots to help kick start their memory when looking for useful website.
Introduction to EvernoteGlogster
Glogster is a way to create posters of important information using multimedia - photos, videos, text, etc. Here's one a teacher created for her class around Fix Up Stratgies students can use when monitoring reading comprehension.
Fix Up Strategies Glogster
Levelbook
Teachers now have a tool, Levelbook,
that combines their basic running record format with a calculator, stop watch
features, and the ability to record the student reading and play it back at a
later time. it allows a teacher to go back throughout the year and listen to
students' reading progress with the students themselves. These recordings can
be shared with other teachers who are working with the students or with parents
at conference time.
Padlet is a great tool for formative assessment that also doubles as a collaborative way for students (or teachers) to connect with each other, too! Students collaborate on a shared wall space and a teacher gets all of the evidence you need to see if students "get it" or not. Padlet.com is a free web 2.0 tool for teachers. With an account, a teacher can create unlimited shared wall spaces that are great for collaboration between students or colleagues. Create a wall and share it with students; they don't need to have an account to collaborate on the wall.
For a practical classroom example, students were asked to add a post-it to your wall with a word that has a long "A" sound in it. Whether students are 1:1, BYOD, or you have a "station" with the wall up on a classroom computer and students rotate through and add a post-it sometime during the day, at the end of the day there is a wall of notes, one per student, and now you can arrange the notes in a meaningful way to analyze who gets it and who doesn't.
Students can cite evidence from text in a close reading activity using a Padlet wall. After accessing various articles on what free speech is, students were asked to support their opinion on the Padlet wall, citing evidence from the text that they read. This kind of activity spans all grade levels; citing evidence and supporting your opinion is a key skill at any age.
What about a KWL chart? By adding headings ahead of time to define the K-W-L spaces on the wall, students can add post-its and place them under the proper category to share what they Know, what they Want to know, or what they Learned.
PaperPort Notes
PaperPort Notes is a free IPAD app that enables a teacher to
provide students with a text passage or a photo that students can then annotate
using sticky notes
Here is a tutorial and several screen shots included in a Word Doc that is linked here.
Seesaw is a free iPad app through which students can create a portfolio to document the things they have learned. Students can add artifacts to their portfolios by taking pictures of their work (i.e., a worksheet or other physical item), by writing about what they've learned, or by shooting a short video to record something they have learned. Students can add voice comments to their pictures to clarify what their pictures document.
To get started with Seesaw create a free classroom account. Students join the classroom by scanning a QR code (you will have to print it or project it) that grants them access to your Seesaw classroom. As the teacher you can see and sort all of your students' Seesaw submissions. Portfolios made through Seesaw could provide excellent information to share with parents at conferences. It's also a good app to use in an art class in which students have created things that aren't easy to file and keep track of for the entire school year. Students could take a picture of their artwork then talk about it in the Seesaw app.Tellagami is an app that allows you to use your phone or IPAD to type or record a message that then is animated. You are able to choose a male or female character and customize your character with many options - skin tone, mood, placement, and lots of other options. I'm sure you can imagine many applications for this in the classroom. Imagine embedding it in your class website for students who have missed some important directions that are not easily understood by reading them!